College of Science, Engineering and Health

The mission of the College of Science, Engineering and Health (CSEH) at the University of West Florida is to provide innovative programs of excellence in education, research, and public and professional service at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. CSEH promotes the production of highly competitive graduates as judged by the highest academic standards in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and health.

Students from James S. Rickards High School in Tallehassee, Florida setting up their Rube Goldberg device for the Mission Possible C event at the NWFL Regional Science Olympiad.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, the University of West Florida hosted students from Northwest Florida’s public and private schools in the Florida Panhandle at the fourth annual Northwest Regional Florida Science Olympiad. The event was held at the UWF College of Science, Engineering and Health.

Florida Science Olympiad is an official state chapter of Science Olympiad, Inc. The goal of Science Olympiad is to improve the quality of science education through competitions similar to sporting events. Just as students are motivated to compete in various sporting activities, students compete as a team against other schools in 23 different events that range the spectrum of science subjects.

This year, 21 groups of students competed with up to 15 students on each team. High school (Division C) and middle school (Division B) students competed in the divisional events with 11 events in Division B and 10 events in Division C. Awards were given to the top three teams per division and top three teams who scored the most points in the entire competition.

The Olympiad is the only science competition listed in the national standards as an exemplary implementation of inquiry and assessment.

University of West Florida faculty and staff members served as event supervisors and helped develop, run and score the events for the competition. Many of the faculty elicited the help of undergraduate & graduate students, along with other faculty members from their departments, to assist with the event. Several other faculty members, staff and students helped to serve as score counselors for the competition.